The project of the atomic strike cruiser CSGN appeared in response to the construction in the USSR of heavy nuclear cruisers pr. 1144 "Orlan". There is no exact evidence on this score, but the principles laid down in both ships, as well as the chronology of events, completely coincide (1973 - the laying of the lead "Kirov", 1974 - the urgent appearance of the CSGN program).
Why did the Yankees have to “hit the hardest” and compete with the Union in the creation of atomic surface monsters - in the presence of a developed naval aviation and a complete lack of experience in creating multi-ton supersonic anti-ship missiles? The strike cruiser project is another confirmation of the proverb "Fear has big eyes", as well as evidence of the vile desire of the American military to "knock out" more funds by intimidating their own leadership with the successes of the Soviet military-industrial complex (both real and fictional).
Atomic Orlan! The inhabitants of the Pentagon have a collapse of consciousness
With all this, the GSGN project had one major difference from the Soviet cruiser: eight-inch artillery! Yes, dear reader, in the age of nuclear reactors and rocket technologies, someone seriously hoped to equip their ships with lumbering pieces of iron that spit out pieces of red-hot steel at a distance of 29,000 meters.
For the rest, the Americans faithfully followed the criteria laid down in the Soviet "Orlan": "To love - so the queen, to steal - so a million." No indulgences or compromises. A large, extremely expensive ship, equipped with the latest technology.
A nuclear reactor, the latest Aegis BIUS, state-of-the-art detection equipment, a huge ammunition load of 128 torpedo torpedoes and long-range anti-aircraft missiles, anti-ship Harpoons, small torpedoes and a pair of anti-submarine helicopters. Later six-barreled anti-aircraft guns "Falanx" and armored boxes with "Tomahawks" will be added to them.
Cruiser Strike, Guided Weapons, Nuclear-powered is a nuclear-powered strike cruiser with guided missiles. This is what a rarity was hiding under the nondescript designation CSGN. A real "superhero" from the American action movie, able to deal with anyone who gets in his way!
Despite all its inadequacy, the GSGN program was in the process of being implemented in practice - in this sense, the history of the nuclear strike cruiser repeated the history of the United States supercarrier (whose construction was stopped 5 days after the laying). The same irresistible desire of admirals to get a "super ship" - with the adamant position of the Congress, which did not want to get involved in another senseless round of the arms race.
At the same time, all the necessary components of the future CSGN existed "in hardware", and subsequently most of them entered service with the fleet.
Nuclear power plant
The tactical and technical assignment (TTZ) for the development of the strike cruiser set the highest speed at around 32 knots. With a declared displacement of 17 thousand tons, the cruiser needed to have at least 100 - 120 thousand hp on the propellers.
At the time of the appearance of the TTZ, the main type of reactor for surface warships was the D2G, installed on eight nuclear-powered cruisers of the US Navy. A pair of such modest units provided 44 MW (60 thousand hp) on the ships' shafts. On board the CSGN, two echelons of four similar NPPUs with three GTZA, designed to transmit more power, could be installed. Or a fundamentally new reactor has been developed. In any case, the project of a nuclear strike cruiser would not have encountered any significant difficulties in terms of creating a nuclear power plant.
A squadron of six US Navy nuclear-powered cruisers (the Yankees had 9 in total and all were scrapped in the early 90s)
Another question - why did the strike cruiser need a nuclear power plant? Time has given the obvious answer - there is no need.
Aegis
Combat information and control system, created on the basis of the most modern developments in the field of microelectronics and detection equipment of the 70s. Computerized Combat Information Center, AN / SPY-1 radar with four fixed headlights. AN / SPS-49 backup two-coordinate airborne radar. Four AN / SPG-62 anti-aircraft fire control radars. AN / SPS-64 navigation radar and AN / SPS-10F surface surveillance radar. Next - the antennas and blocks of the LAMPS system for collecting and centralized processing of information about the underwater situation, which combines the under-keel AN / SQS-53A sonar station and the onboard systems of two anti-submarine helicopters.
Nuclear cruiser "Long Beach" with "Aegis" system (unrealized project)
In general, a wonderful system for its time - BIUS, which subjugated all the subsystems of the ship. The only problem with Aegis was its high cost, especially by the standards of 40 years ago. Moreover, the system was positioned as an "impenetrable shield" when repelling attacks by Soviet anti-ship missiles and was intended to be installed on escort cruisers of the US Navy. The strike CSGN had, frankly, different goals and areas of work. Like most American cruisers of those years, he could easily do with a simpler NTDS with a bunch of AN / SPS-48 and SPS-49 radars. As it turned out later, these systems were no worse than the advertised "Aegis" - the Yankees still use the powerful and reliable SPS-48 on their ships.
But that time the admirals wanted to do everything with "special chic". The idea of a "super cruiser" was so deeply rooted in the brains of the Pentagon's inhabitants that any compromises were ruled out. The sailors chose only the best and at the highest possible cost!
Rocket armament
The ammunition of the CSGN cruiser included 4 types of missiles (Stenderd-2 missiles, ASROK PLUR, Harpoon anti-ship missiles and Tomahawk SLCMs) - only one and a half hundred missile ammunition for various purposes. The missiles were launched from launchers of three different types:
- Mk.26 GMLS Mod.2 - two universal beam launchers located in the bow and stern of the ship. The installations were intended for launching Stenderd-2 anti-aircraft missiles and ASROK anti-submarine rocket torpedoes;
Even by the standards of the 70s, the Mk.26 GMLS was considered too bulky, heavy and outdated (the "dry" weight of the Mod.2 is 265 tons!). By that time, the first samples of underdeck launchers were already installed on Soviet ships (8-round S-300F drum-type launchers), and American sailors were eagerly awaiting the appearance of a universal UVP Mk.41 for storing and launching any types of missiles, the development of which was announced in 1976 year. However, before reaching the Mk.41 operational readiness, it would have to wait at least 9 years, so the strike cruiser was designed for the old Mk.26 Mod.2 launchers (the maximum missile cellar capacity of each of the installations is 64 missiles);
- Mk.141 - inclined quadruple launchers for launching the Harpoon anti-ship missile system. They were a light truss structure with transport and launch containers (TPK) mounted on it at an angle of 35 ° to the horizon;
Above is the "classic" CSGN. Below is its simplified version of the CGN-42 (atomic cruiser "Virginia" with the "Aegis" system)
- Mk.143 Armored Launch Box (ABL) - armored launchers on the upper deck designed to launch Tomahawk cruise missiles. The process of storing and launching the Axes was similar to that used in the modern Russian Club-K missile system. Only instead of the fake "40-foot container" under which the Russian "Klaba" launcher was made up, the Mk.143 ABL was a heavy metal box with dimensions of 7x2x2 m and weighing 26 tons. If necessary, the top cover was lifted and four TPK with "Tomahawks" took the starting position. Thus, it was supposed to place the latest Tomahawk missiles on the deck of any ship of the naval forces (including on old battleships built during the Second World War). For all its obvious merits, the ABL was found to be overly cumbersome and outdated. Soon after the appearance of the Mk.41 UVP, the Mk.143 was removed from service.
Artillery
Perhaps the most important feature of the strike cruiser project. In the bow of the CSGN, the polished barrel of a 203 mm cannon gleamed - in addition to missiles, the cruiser's armament was supposed to include the latest highly automated Mk.71 naval gun.
The prehistory of the appearance of this system is as follows: in the early 70s, the mass decommissioning of missile and artillery cruisers (impromptu based on WWII ships) began in the American fleet. Together with the old ships, the last large-caliber guns went into the past. A few more years - and the only type of US Navy artillery weapons will remain light "five-inch" Mk.42 and Mk.45.
"Yes!" - the reader will sigh. - Time is rushing inexorably forward, erasing the achievements of the past. The glorious era of battleships and big guns remained on the dusty shelves of history."
However, despite the appearance of wonderful missiles, the sailors did not plan to part with their "big toys". Fire support for amphibious assault forces and shelling of the enemy coast (in Basurmanskiy - Naval Gunfire Support) remained an urgent task of the modern fleet. The Marine Corps worried the most: instead of the corpses of their conscripts, the Yankees preferred to throw packs of heavy shells at the enemy - and now they are seriously thinking about how they should go into battle without having an "insurance policy" in the form of a battery of 8 naval guns behind their backs.
The transition from the 5 '' (127 mm) caliber to the 8 '' (203 mm) caliber meant a threefold difference in the mass of the projectile and a 5000 meters longer firing range.
The compact automated gun Mk. 71 with a barrel length of 55 calibers, together with ready-to-fire ammunition, weighed 78 tons and provided a rate of fire of 10-12 rds / min. Food was supplied from a 75-round magazine. To control the mechanisms of the Mk.71 during its firing, 1 sailor was required. However, in the future, when moving the ammunition from the main stowage to the store, it was required to attract another N number of strong hands.
The super gun could fire 118 kg shells at a distance of 29 km. In addition to the usual "blanks", the arsenal of the Mk.71 included a lightweight Mk.63 projectile, created during the Vietnam War, which made it possible to fire at Vietcong bases at a distance of over 40 miles!
A working sample of the gun was assembled and tested on the destroyer Hull in 1975. According to official data, the Mk.71's firing accuracy turned out to be low, and when firing active projectiles, the "eight-inch" had practically no advantages over the "five-inch". But, most importantly, the five-inch was cheaper! The developers of the Mk.71 did not receive funds for the further continuation of work, and in 1978 the project of a modern naval 8 '' cannon was curtailed.
Currently, the Mk.45 remains the main artillery weapon of the US Navy. The Yankees are trying to compensate for the lack of her power with adjustable projectiles and a high initial velocity of ammunition: the barrel length of the Mk.45 Mod.4 was brought to an incredible 62 calibers!
Collapse of the CSGN project
According to the 1974 budget, the fleet expected to receive one experimental CSGN based on the upgraded nuclear cruiser Long Beach (estimated cost of work $ 800 million) and 12 serial strike cruisers at a price of $ 1.5 billion each. In the 1975 budget, the number of serial CSGNs was reduced to 8 units. The necessary funds were to be obtained by reducing the order for the construction of nuclear-powered cruisers of the Virginia class - from twelve to four units (which actually happened).
USS Long Beach (CGN-9). It was launched in 1959. The full displacement of the giant is 17 thousand tons.
USS Long Beach after a slight upgrade in the early 80s.
The protruding Harpoon anti-ship missiles, Falanx white caps and armored containers with Tomahawks are clearly visible.
In the future, the projects were repeatedly revised, as a result, under the designation CSGN, five different projects are hidden at once:
- two heavy "classic" CGSNs (samples 1974 and 1976), differing only in the composition of weapons and the perfection of the technical performance of their designs;
- "test" CSGN-9 based on the old cruiser "Long Beach";
- "light version" CGN-42 - nuclear-powered missile cruiser with the "Aegis" system in the hull of the cruiser "Virginia" with a simplified composition of weapons.
In reality, none of the projects was implemented in reality. Only "Long Beach" was modernized according to a simplified design - without the installation of the "Aegis" system and cardinal changes in the design of the cruiser.
What ruined the brilliant project of the "superhero ship"?
It turns out that the fault was … political correctness. To a direct question from congressmen: "Why did you need strike cruisers?" followed by a completely senseless answer: "Fight with the Russians."
But the main strength of the Russians was hidden under the water! To effectively counter the submarines of the USSR Navy, tens and hundreds of anti-submarine ships, destroyers and frigates were required. Impact CSGN in such conditions was completely useless, and Congress immediately "hacked" the project.
No, American admirals weren't that stupid. But they had no moral right to announce aloud the purpose of the strike cruiser: the beating of the "third world countries" in numerous local conflicts all over the world.
Seriously, the whole reason lies in the money. The designers were noticeably too clever with the design of the strike cruiser - in the planned form, the CSGN turned out to be excessively expensive for participating in local wars. And just as ineffective in the form of an escort ship - for these purposes the Yankees planned to build a large series of Aegis cruisers of the Ticonderoga class in the destroyer Spruence's hull (the contract for the construction of the lead DDG-47 was signed in 1978).
Has the CSGN project sunk into oblivion? On thematic resources devoted to trends in the development of the fleet, there is an opinion that we will not see such a ship in the 21st century.
No matter how it is!
In chilly November 2013, the new generation destroyer Zamvolt stepped on the water of the Kennebeck River. Here are the dimensions (14,500 tons), and the price ($ 7 billion, including R&D), and 80 rocket launchers, and the latest AN / SPY-3 superradar and a pair of six-inch AGS cannons with 920 rounds of ammunition.
However, in modern times, admirals have a more flexible vocabulary: instead of the stressing “strike cruiser” (no remnants of the Cold War!), The neutral word “destroyer” is used, and instead of the vile phrase “to hammer third world countries”, a beautiful phrase “this ship is focused on execution of counter-terrorist operations”.
